FAULTY MARKING OF LAMBS

Southland Times, Issue 25548, 16 December 1944, Page 6

FAULTY MARKING OF LAMBS

REPORT TO FARMERS’ UNION The faulty use of emasculators for marking lambs and also the negligence of farmers in sending daggy lambs to the freezing works was referred to by the Meat and Wool Committee of the executive in a report to a meeting of the Southland Provincial Executive of the Farmers’ Union yesterday. The committee recommended that breeders should see that the emasculators were properly adjusted before marking time, and that they were not used under a wrong method. The report stated that records kept at one of the Southland freezing works during last season revealed that 23,565 ram lambs had gone through the works, representing 4.373 per cent, of the total lambs killed at those works. Through this negligence on the part of farmers the extra slaughtering costs for these lambs amounted to £276/6/for the season. Further, it decreased the total number of lambs available for killing each day, as every ram lamb killed counted as one and a-half in the slaughterman’s tally. The average number of ram lambs killed each day was 400. Therefore the total killings for the day were decreased by one third that amount; but the actual cost of the day’s tally remained as if 600 lambs had been killed. At the height of the killing season, when the works were running at full capacity, farmers had difficulty in getting their lambs killed, but if this trouble was eliminated approximately 2000 lambs more each week could be handled without any increase in costs, or an increase in the number of butchers required, the report stated. CONCERN TO INDUSTRY This negligence on the part of farmers was causing no little concern to the freezing industry, the report stated. A large number of these lambs must be classed as seconds or rejects, and each year found the number of ram lambs increasing. This meant a loss of many thousands of pounds each year throughout New Zealand to the freezing industry and as most of the trouble was caused by the same farmers (who were a small proportion of the farming community) some measure of punishment must necessarily be adopted to stir these offenders. At present the careful farmer was carrying the load for a few careless ones. The electoral college of the Meat Board had done its best over a number of years to get killing charges reduced, but here was one of the most prominent difficulties that stood in the way of this reduction being obtained.

Then there was the trouble of daggy lambs to contend with, the report continued. This was a menace which was also growing rapidly each year and was another cause of great delay in killing operations. When a line of daggy lambs went into the works kill—ign ceased until the lambs were dagged. This was unnecessary delay and reduced the day’s output considerably If lambs were crutched before being put on fattening feed the wool returns would more than pay for the costs. The lambs would fatten more quickly, return greater weights, with less seconds, and generally a more profitable killing sheet. The report was adopted.